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Summary
Summary
Janice Graham's unforgettable second novel is a love story fromthe heartland: a classic romantic triangle, driven by the forces of providence, played out against the wild natural beauty of the Flint Hills. Her debut novel Firebird was an international success and launched Janice Graham into the ranks of our most beloved storytellers. LaVyrle Spencer, Mary Higgins Clark, and Anne Rivers Siddons all generously praised the novel, while Booklist hailed the author as "an undeniably talented writer." Now Graham returns with a powerful love story, unique in its setting yet utterly universal. Raised by her grandparents in the Flint Hills of Kansas, Sarah Bryden puts aside her dreams of higher learning and world travel when her grandfather suffers a devastating accident. She leaves college and returns to the tiny town of Bazaar, waiting tables at a local cafeacute; and passionately nourishing in secret her creative spirit. Sarah is a loner, but there is a magic about her, apparent to all who meet her. Also returning to small-town life are John and Susan Wilde. John has taken a leave of absence from Berkeley to settle in the heart of the Flint Hills with his wife and their newly adopted son, hoping that the quiet and wide open spaces will ease them into their new roles as parents and fortify their frail little boy. When Sarah encounters the child, however, there is an instant connection, a feeling of old souls meeting, and John can't help but notice how naturally she takes to the boy-in stark contrast to his wife, who has grappled with motherhood from the very start. Sarah awakens John and she in turn is captivated by him-his energy, his will, his brilliance. Around the structure of the classic romantic triangle, the conflict unfolds. And amid a series of disasters, both natural and man-made, John, Sarah, and Susan learn to honor the forces of the universe that compel lives together-and just as forcefully tear them apart. Intelligent writing, unforgettable characters, and vivid prairie landscapes make Sarah's Window a book to take to heart.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sarah Bryden is set to shake the dust of the Kansas Flint Hills from her shoes and pursue art and higher learning in brighter and more sophisticated venues when her beloved grandfather loses his leg in a gruesome quarry accident at the start of this flowery drama. As grandma bitterly points out, the old man was still on the job only to pay for Sarah's highfalutin education, so she owes it to him to come home and help take care of him. She goes to work as a waitress at the Cassoday Cafe ("Good Food and Gossip, Established 1879") and a generous slice of the world comes to her door. There's Joy Bell, the Cassoday's good-hearted proprietor. There's Billy Moon, a widowed high school history teacher who becomes Sarah's suitor. And there is the intriguing and brilliant John Wilde, recently moved to town with his too-cool wife, Susan, and their disturbed adopted son, Will. Sarah's developing relationship with the Wildes is the center around which the novel revolves. It's clear from the moment of their meeting that the friendship is to be more than casual. The bleak, grassy landscape of the Flint Hills is lovingly described and sets the tone for the novel, though the action moves far away from Kansas, to Paris and Cambridge, England. Graham (Firebird) is an astute chronicler of sentiment and motive, but she allows the novel's point of view to skip incessantly from character to character. These inconsistencies and a few plot stretches (the finale especially is manipulative) are obscured in a rosy haze of romance, but readers may still feel the bumps. (Oct.) Forecast: Firebird had a lot of high-profile admirers (Mary Higgins Clark and John Jakes among them), but Graham's latest isn't likely to pick up a lot of new fans, though it is a Literary Guild main selection. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An overloaded love story, set mostly in ranch country, flirts with big issues-parental bonding, mathematical intelligence, and destiny-as a young woman falls in love with a married man. Sarah Bryden has lived with her grandparents in a small Kansas town ever since her grandfather lost his leg in a blasting operation and she had to leave college. She's an artist, and when she's not waiting tables or tutoring high school kids, she paints delicate flower pictures in her room. Meanwhile, she's seeing local man but she's not yet over a love affair with a Britisher who left her when she became pregnant (the baby was stillborn). Sarah's life picks up when handsome John Wilde and his wife Susan-a wealthy businesswoman-move back from California to be with Susan's mother while they try to raise recently adopted baby Will. John, a mathematical genius, is happiest when working with equations, but he's troubled by Susan's attitude toward Will. The baby is sickly and difficult, and after Sarah helps out one evening, Susan increasingly leaves him in her care. Sarah and John are drawn to each other, especially after Susan is injured and Will stays with Sarah temporarily, bringing them even closer together. Susan, now recovered and actively disliking her son, offers John an ultimatum: either Will goes or she does. While he wrestles with this decision, he and Sarah confess their feelings for each other, but a flood creates even further problems when Susan, with Will in the car, gets caught in the raging water. Will drowns, and a confused and grieving John heads back with Susan to California, his heart no longer in the marriage. Meantime, Sarah, pregnant with John's child, goes to France to look at the art, then stays on. Misunderstandings and surprises ensue, of course, but what's destined can't be avoided. Well enough executed, but a victim of emotional excess. Literary Guild main selection
Booklist Review
Sarah Bryden lives with her grandparents in Bazaar, a tiny town at the base of the Flint Hills in Kansas. She waitresses at a local diner and paints beautiful pictures she lets no one see. When John and Susan Wilde move to a neighboring, sleepy town with their ailing son, Will, Sarah connects with their baby in a way that sparks interest from John and envy from Susan. Unusual circumstances, leading to a car accident, leave Will in Sarah's care, and as he thrives, John's feelings toward Sarah also grow. A number of events take place, including a devastating flood with tragic consequences, that force Sarah, John, and Susan to reevaluate the choices they have made and the lives they want to lead. This love story is charged with emotion and filled with poetic detail. Graham is adept at capturing the nuances of small-town living, but the convenient twists of plot ensuring a happy ending and the smattering of one-dimensional characters keep this from being even more enjoyable. --Carolyn Kubisz
Library Journal Review
In her second novel (after Firdbird), Graham tells the story of Sarah Bryden, a creative young woman who lives with her grandparents in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Sarah put her dreams of college and travel on hold after her grandfather had an accident. Now working as a waitress, she paints whenever she can and affects the lives of those in her circle more than she realizes. There's Billy Moon, Sarah's former teacher and would-be lover; John and Susan Wilde and their adopted baby, Will; and Joy, Sarah's friend and employer. When the Wildes first move to the area, Sarah and John are attracted to each other a problem that is exacerbated by Sarah's relating better to John's new son than his wife, Susan, does. Slowly, pretenses are stripped away, new emotional ties develop, and static relationships seem doomed. After a flood causes multiple tragedies, Sarah takes control of her life, which blossoms unexpectedly. Women readers especially will enjoy this poignant, beautifully written story. Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.